"Back to Braak": Role of Nucleus Reuniens and Subcortical Pathways in Alzheimer's Disease Progression.

Background: Patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) exhibit structural alterations of the thalamus that correlate with clinical symptoms. However, given the anatomical complexity of this brain structure, it is still unclear whether atrophy affects specific thalamic nuclei and modulates the clinical progression from a prodromal stage, known as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), to full-fledged AD.

Objectives: To characterize the structural integrity of distinct thalamic nuclei across the AD spectrum, testing whether MCI patients who convert to AD (c-MCI) show a distinctive pattern of thalamic structural alterations compared to patients who remain stable (s-MCI).

BOLD cardiorespiratory pulsatility in the brain: from noise to signal of interest.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) based on the Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) contrast has been extensively used to map brain activity and connectivity in health and disease. Standard fMRI preprocessing includes different steps to remove confounds unrelated to neuronal activity. First, this narrative review explores how signal fluctuations due to cardiac and respiratory activity, usually considered as "physiological noise" and regressed out from fMRI time series.

COVID-19 and first manic episodes: a systematic review.

Sars-CoV-2 is a respiratory virus that can access the central nervous system, as indicated by the presence of the virus in patients' cerebrospinal fluid and the occurrence of several neurological syndromes during and after COVID-19. Growing evidence indicates that Sars-CoV-2 can also trigger the acute onset of mood disorders or psychotic symptoms. COVID-19-related first episodes of mania, in subjects with no known history of bipolar disorder, have never been systematically analyzed.

Osteopathy modulates brain-heart interaction in chronic pain patients: an ASL study.

In this study we used a combination of measures including regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and heart rate variability (HRV) to investigate brain-heart correlates of longitudinal baseline changes of chronic low back pain (cLBP) after osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT). Thirty-two right-handed patients were randomised and divided into 4 weekly session of OMT (N = 16) or Sham (N = 16). Participants aged 42.

Characterizing the building blocks of Problematic Use of the Internet (PUI): The role of obsessional impulses and impulsivity traits among Italian young adults.

Background: Problematic Use of the Internet (PUI) is a considerable issue of the modern era, but its risk factors are still poorly understood. Impulsivity and obsessive-compulsive symptoms have been associated with PUI, but this relationship is still debated. In this article we focus on the relationships of PUI with obsessive-compulsive and impulsive symptoms in a cohort of Italian young adults, in order to identify possible vulnerability factors for PUI.